Can-head-seaming machine.



L. G. SHARP. CAN HEAD SEAMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0M. 12, 1909. 1

1 094,937 I Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHI IET 1.

L. 0. SHARP. a CAN HEAD SEAMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 12,1909v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 28

Suva won.

L e Sharp,

atbo'oww UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE LEE C. SHARP, OF PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, ASSIG'NOR TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A GOBEORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

- CAN-HEAD-SEAMING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

Application filed October 12, 1909. Serial No. 522,347.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, LEE C. SHARP, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of- Plattsmouth, in the county of Cass and 'Stateof Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Head Seaming Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for making sheet-metal cans in which the canheads are secured upon the bodies by doubleseaming or similar processes,

It is'the object of my invention to. provide a simple and efficient machine for automatic-ally applying and seaming the heads of cans upon the bodies thereof, in which by simple and easily operated adjusting means the machinemay be adapted to operate upon cans of various lengths and diameters.

Further objects of my invention are to provide certain specific improvements, in the means for feeding vthe can-bodies and heads.

to the seaming devices, in'the means for actuating the seaming devices, and in the various adjusting means for adapting the machine for use in making cans of different sizes.

' Constructions embodying my invention are illustrated in the accompanying 'drawings, in which-- Figure 1 ma rearelevation of the machine, Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the,

head-stock, Fig. 3 a transverse vertical section on the plane of the line 00-02 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a detail verticallongitudinal section of the head-stock, Fig. 5 is a trans-- 7 verse section of the feed-chute, Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal section through one of the pockets of the carrier-wheel, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail sectional View showing the method of adjustably retaining one of the plates 17 on the shaft 12.

In the machine shown in the drawings, I

provide a frame consisting of the horizontal bed-plate or beam 1 supported by legs 2. and carrying at one end a head-stock 3, at the central part a tail-stock 4C and at the other end a bearing-standard 5. The head-stock 3 and bearing-standard 5 are fixedly secured upon the bed, while the tail-stock} mounted upon ways so as to be long1tud1 nally slidable and is secured in adjusted position upon the bed by means of a bolt 6.v passed through a slot in the bed. The, main driving shaft 7 is journaled in bearings formed at the upper extremities of the standard 5, and of the tail-stock and headstock, as shown. The said shaft carries a driving pulley 8 at the end adjoining the standard 5, and at the other end a short crank 9: is secured thereon. From said crank a rod 10 extends downwardly and is conected with one end of an arm 11 rotatably mounted on the-carrier-wheel shaft 12 which isjournaled in the lower portions 'of the head-stock and'tail-stock, as shown. Said arm 11 carries. a pawl 13 adapted to engage a ratchet wheel 14 secured on'the end of the shaft 12.. Between the bearings in the headstock a brakc=whee1 15 is secured on the' shaft 12, said wheel having an adjustable brake-band extending around the same and connected with the head-stock, On the shaft 12, between the head-stock and tailstoclcare mounted the carrier-plates 16 and 17. The plate 16 is fixedly secured on the shaft adjoinin Y the head-stock, and the plate 17 is adj usta le longitudinally 'upon the shaft, being connected therewith and held in adjusted position thereon by means of a feather 17, and set-screw 17*. Each of the plates. 16 and 17- has equally spaced in the periphery thereof circular recesses in which the serni-annular bushings 18 are removably secured by means of the screws 19, as shown in Fig. 6. The said semi-annular bushings cans of different lengths.

The can-bodies'and heads are automatically fed tov the carrier-wheel by means of an inclined chute which is supported on a bracket 20 arranged at the front side of the ,machine. The chute comprisesthe crossbars 21 upon which the inclined bars 22 and 23, oarryin the side-plates 24., are. adjustably secured by means of screws which extend through slots in the cross-bars and are provided at their lower ends with thumbnuts 25, as shown in Fig. 5. The bars 22 and the side-plates carried thereby form a runway for the can-bodies A, and a narrow runway for the can-heads B is formed .between the side-plate carried by the bar 23 and the adjoining side of the'body-runway.

The outer end of the chute is pivotally con-- nected with the bracket 20, and the inner end of the chute is supported by the screwstuds 26 which are provided with adjusting nuts, as shown by which the position of the lower end of the chute maybe regulated to correspond with the stopping position of the adjoining carrier-pocket formed by the bushings 18. a I

The carrier-wheel shaft 12 is intermittently actu'ated, by means of the ratchet con 'nections described, in a directionsuch that the carrier-wheel will move upwardly at the side thereof adjoining the feed-chute, and said actuating mechanism is soarranged that at each movementof the carrier-wheel one of the pockets therein will stop at the feed-chute, receive a can-body and head j ournaled in the head-stock and tail-stock in horizontal alinement with the two upper pockets of the carrier-wheel. On the outer ends of said chuck spindles are pulleys 29 from which the spindles .may be continu-,

ously driven by belts extending, preferably, todriving pulleys arranged on a shaft above the machine, one belt being used to drive both of the head-stock spindles and one to drive both of the tail-stock spindles. The two pairs of spindles are simultaneously given intermittent longitudinal movements toward and away from each other by means of. cams 30 and 31 carried on the main driving shaft Tabove the head-stock and tailstock, respectively. The said cams are engaged by rollers carried on the upper ends of the levers 32, the said levers at their lower ends extending between the chuckspindle's andhaving T-heads thereon, each end of which engages a ring arranged in a groove-collar 33 carried by each of the spindles. Springs-34 engage the lower ends of the levers to press the same normally outward and keep the rollers in engagement with the cams. The cam 31 is adjustable longitudinally of the driving shaft, being secured thereon by means of a feather and setpassed an adjustingscrew 36 which engages a spring 37 arranged as shown'in Fig. 4.

0n the face of the plate is a roller 38 which said spring 37 normally holds in engagement with a cam 39 secured on the driving shaft 7, the said cam being adapted to impart an intermittent vertical reciprocating movement to the plate 35. 'A plate &0, at the lower end of which .are mounted the seaming-rollers 41, is secured on the face of the plate 35 by means of screws 42 extending through vertical-slots near the sides of said plate 40. The upward thrust from the seaming rollers upon the plate 40 is received .by screws 43 which are passed through lugs projecting from the face of the plate 35,'and

by means of said screws and the screws t2 the vertical relation of the two plates which form the seaming-head may be so adjusted that whenthe plate 35 is pushed downwardly by the cam 39 the seaming-rollers will be brought into proper operating relation with the can-bodies and heads in the two upper pockets of the carrier-wheel.

The. variousopera-ting elements are so timed with relation to each other that the operation of the-machine is as follows: A can-body and head having been deposited by the feed-chute in one of the pockets of the carrier-wheel, as before described, the next movement of the wheel carries them between the first pair of chucleplates, where they remain during the return movement of the driving-pawl 13, the carrier-wheel shaft being held stationary by the friction of the brake-band upon the wheel 15. While in said position the chuck-plates and spindles are moved inwardly so that the chuck-plates engage and force the can-body and head into contact with each other, at the same time imparting thereto a rapid rotary movement during which the respective seaming-roller ll is moved down into operating position and performs the first part of the seaming operation. The seaming-head is then raised, the chuck-plates withdrawn, and the carrier'- wheel advanced to. carry the can to the second operating position where, by a repeti tion of the movements above described, the seaming operation is completed by the second seaming-roller,.and at the next movement of the carrier-wheel the can is discharged into a chute 44 or suitable receptacle disposed at the back of the machine.

It will, of course, be obvious that each of the different operations is performed simultaneous'ly upon the different cans passing through the machine, which thus completes the operations upon one can at each revolution of the driving shaft 7.

In 'adapting the machine for operating upon cans of different lengths but of uniform diameter it is necessary to make adj ustments only of the plate 17 of the carrierwheel, the tail-stock, the cam 31, and one side of the feed-chute. In adapting the machine for operating upon cans of uniform length but of different diametersit is neces sary to change the bushings 18 of the carrier-wheel and change the chuck-plates 27 for others of the proper size for the cans to be handled, to adjust the position of the seaming-head plate 40, and raise or lower slightly the inner end of the feed-chute. In addition vto the above it may sometimes be necessary to vary slightly the width of the head-runway of the feedchute, in order to accommodate therein can-heads having flanges or embossing of different depths.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

-1. In a can head-seaming 'machine, the combination with seaming devices, of a carrier-wheel r'evolubly inounted on a horizon tal axis and having peripheral pockets ada ited to receive and carry can-bodies and heats; a chute for feeding can-bodies and heads to the carrier-wheel; and chuck-plates mounted adjacent to the carrier-wheel and adapted to engage and rotate the cans in proximity to the seaming devices; portions of the carrier wheel, of the feed-chute, and

ing a fixed relation with each other adapted to simultaneously engage a plurality of adjacent cans held by the chuck-plates, and means for actuating said seaming devices synchronously with the carrier-wheel and chuclcplates.

3. In a can head-seaming machine, conveying devicesadapted to receive and carry cylindrical can-bodies and heads so that the axes thereof are substantially horizontal, can end "engaging means rotatable on horizontal axes and arranged adjoining the conveying devices, means for actuating said rotatable ineans to simultaneously engage the same with a plurality of the can-bodies and heads, a vertically reciprocating head arranged above the rotatable means, a plu rality of seaming-rollers carried by said head, and'means for actuating said head to simiiltaneouslyengage the seamingrollers with a plurality of adjacent cans held by the rotata le means.

4. In a can head-seaming machine, a carrier-wheel mounted 011a horizontal axis having removable peripheral members containing pockets adapted to receive canbodies and heads, means for intermittently actuating said carrier-wheel, a scanninghead, means for intermittently reciprocat ing said head toward and away from the carrier-wheel, seaming-rollers carried by the head, said seaming rollers being adjacent to each other and adapted to simultaneously engage adjacent cans on said carrier wheel and means on the head for adjusting the position of the seaming-rollers relative to the carrier-wheel to adapt the seaming head for operating upon cans of different diameters.

5. In a head-seaming machine for cylindrical cans, a feed-chute having inclined runways through which the can-bodies and headsniay roll, means for adjusting the width of said runways, a plurality of seaming devices, pairs of rotating element-s arranged adjacent to each of the seaming devices, conveying devices adapted to receive the cans from the feed-chute and carry the same successively to positions adjoining the-seaming devices and between the pairs of rotating elements, means for ad- .justing the width of the conveying devices,

means for adjusting the average distance between the pairs of rotating elements, means for simultaneously moving each pair of rotating elements-toward and away from each other,- and means for simultaneously engaging all theseaming devices with the cans.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

LEE G. SHARP.

Witnesses: s a

J HENRY BROWN, JOHN STEPHEN. 

